21/02/2014

Dr Hadwen Trust (DHT), the UK’s leading non-animal medical research charity, has today shown its support for the BUAV’s Our Best Friends campaign to end the use of cats and dogs in laboratories.

DHT funds and promotes the development of techniques and procedures to replace the use of animals in research, benefiting people and animals.

Dr Kay Miller, Group Head of Operations at Dr Hadwen Trust said “There is considerable evidence to show that toxicity studies performed in animals, particularly dogs, are not translatable to humans. Modern science should be focused on alternatives to using cats, dogs and all animals for research purposes. The Dr Hadwen Trust supports the BUAV’s Our Best Friends campaign to end experimentation on dogs and cats in the UK.”

Dogs and cats are our best friends - they don’t belong in laboratories, yet Home Office statistics report that 3,214 dogs and 202 cats were used in experiments in Great Britain in 2012, a 6% increase for dogs and a 32% increase for cats on the previous year. These animals are not protected by the same law as the animals so many of us share our homes with, which means researchers can carry out experiments on them which may inflict severe suffering and harm.

Michelle Thew, Chief Executive at The BUAV said, “We are delighted to have the support of Dr Hadwen Trust for Our Best Friends campaign to end the cruel use of dogs and cats in laboratories. Please stand up for your best friends by signing and sharing the petition at www.OurBestFriends.org.”